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EA Sports
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EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on sports. Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports games, that tried to mimic real-life sports networks, calling themselves "EA Sports Network" (EASN) with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John Madden, it soon grew up to become a sub-label on its own, releasing game series such as NBA Live, FIFA, NHL, Madden NFL, and NASCAR.
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EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on sports. Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports games, that tried to mimic real-life sports networks, calling themselves "EA Sports Network" (EASN) with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John Madden, it soon grew up to become a sub-label on its own, releasing game series such as NBA Live, FIFA, NHL, Madden NFL, and NASCAR. Most games under this brand are developed by EA Canada, the studio of Electronic Arts in Burnaby, British Columbia, as well as at EA Blackbox, Vancouver, British Columbia and EA Tiburon in Maitland, Florida.
EA Sports' early motto, If it's in the game, it's in the game, (later abbreviated to just It's in the game.) reflects the aim of the early games to portray reality as best as the technology would allow. This tag line, strategized by Don Transeth, written by , and viscerally delivered with its trademark staccato cadence by the voice of EA Sports, , has become a cultural rallying cry throughout the sports universe. Unlike some other companies, EA Sports has no special ties to a single platform, which means that all games are released for the best-selling active platforms, sometimes long after most other companies abandon them. For example, FIFA 98, Madden NFL 98, NBA Live 98, and NHL 98 were released for the Sega Genesis and the Super NES throughout 1997; Madden NFL 2005 and FIFA 2005 had PlayStation releases in 2004 (FIFA 2005 was also the last PlayStation title to be released); and NCAA Football 08 had an Xbox release in 2007. Madden NFL 08 also had Xbox and GameCube releases in 2007, and was the final title released for the GameCube, with Madden NFL 09 following as the final Xbox title. Additionally, NASCAR Thunder 2003 and NASCAR Thunder 2004 were released not only for the PlayStation 2, but for the original PlayStation as well.
Series and games
Most EA Sports games are distinguished by year, as most games are released on a yearly basis. However, as EA Sports is the leading purchaser of official licenses, it's not uncommon that in a short span several games of the same sport but with different licenses are released: FIFA 98 was shortly followed by World Cup 98 (as EA has the license for the FIFA World Cup and the European Football Championship, each happening regularly in four-year intervals), and college football and basketball games are released that are based on Madden NFL and NBA Live, respectively. The titles released before 1996 are referred by fans as the classic series.
- Madden NFL series, 1988 (games prior to 1993 did not have an NFL license)
- NCAA Football series, 1993 (prior to 1996 the name of the franchise was Bill Walsh College Football and College Football USA)
- EA Sports GameShow, 2008 EA Sports GameShow is a nationwide, online trivia game hosted by a live, on-air DJ.
- Three Elitserien titles were also released in Sweden
- Three SM-liiga titles were released in Finland
- A Japanese version called NHL Pro Hockey '94 was released on the Super Famicom
- Preceded by FIFA Soccer Manager (1996) and the Premier League Manager series.
- Started at Rugby World Cup 1995 on Sega Mega Drive which went on to Rugby 2001 (A late version of Rugby World Cup 1999) PC only, Rugby, Rugby 2004, Rugby 2005, Rugby 06 and Rugby 08 all on PlayStation 2 and Xbox as well as PC
In a recent interview for PS3 magazine Peter Moore hinted at a Rugby game coming soon to Next-Gen Consoles. He said,"Stay tuned for Rugby and Cricket debuting on PS3.
- Australian Rugby League was released on Sega Mega Drive as you play through the 1995 ARL season and the other ARL 96 was on PC depicting the 1996 ARL season.
- First version released in February 2006
- Cricket started out with Ian Botham International Cricket 1996 (called Cricket 96 in Australia); Its sequel was Cricket 97 which was complemented with Cricket 97: Ashes Tour Edition. Following releases include Cricket Ashes Tour (1998), Cricket World Cup 99 (1999) and Cricket 2000. From then onwards, the series was a biennial one, with the releases of Cricket 2002 and 2004. It has returned to being an annual release with the releases of Cricket 2005 and Cricket 07.
In a recent interview for ps3 magazine Peter Moore hinted at a Cricket game coming soon to Next-Gen Consoles. He said,"Stay tuned for Rugby and Cricket debuting on PS3.
- Follows your career either as a boxer of your creation, or as a legend.
- There are other series, including F1 Championship (discontinued after Sony acquired the exclusive license for the Formula 1 championship), Superbike and others with a limited distribution such as AFL
- EA Tennis EA Sports has announced they are working on a tennis game to be released in late 2009
- EA Sports Active An exercise game to be released for the Wii in March 2009
Exclusivity deals
In 2003 EA purchased the license to NASCAR for 6 years, ending competition from Papyrus and Infogrames.
On December 13 2004, EA Sports signed an exclusive deal with the NFL and its Players' Union for 5 years. On February 12 2008, EA Sports announced the extension of its exclusive deal until the 2012 NFL season.
Less than a month after the NFL Exclusive deal, EA SPORTS signed a 4-year exclusive deal with the Arena Football League.
On April 11 2005, the NCAA and EA Sports signed a deal to grant EA Sports the sole rights to produce college football games for six years.
EA lost the rights for MLB games to 2K Sports in 2005, ending EA's MVP series; however EA has made NCAA Baseball games annually since losing the MLB license.
In 2005, EA Sports and ESPN signed a massive 15-year deal for ESPN to be integrated into EA Sports video games. EA's use of the ESPN license has steadily increased over the early life of the deal. EA's early usage of the ESPN license began with ESPN Radio and a sports ticker in titles like Madden NFL, NBA Live, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, and NCAA Baseball and Football. The ESPN integration now includes streaming podcasts, text articles (including content only available previously to ESPN Insider subscribers), and ESPN Motion video (including such programs as Pardon The Interruption).
In January 2008, EA Sports decided not to renew their NCAA College Baseball license while they evaluate the status of their MVP game engine.
PC Games
In June 2008, EA Sports announced that for the year 2009 the games Madden NFL, NCAA Football, NASCAR, Tiger Woods PGA Tour and NBA Live would not be shipped for PC.
The head of EA Sports at that time, Peter Moore cited as underpins to that decision piracy and the fact the "PC as a platform for authentic, fully-licensed, simulation sports games has declined radically in the past three years as the next generation consoles [...] have attracted millions of consumers."
The company noted however that the games FIFA and NHL and FIFA Manager would still be released for the PC platform.
08 Games
09 Games
2010 Games
External links
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